---
title: Which of the following best describes the manner in which the eldest… — Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer · tree and pragmatics
description: Which of the following best describes the manner in which the eldest sister proposed to dispose of the gardener's boy? Exam question 1 of lesson 1506 «Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer» of the books course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each opt
---

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# Exam question 1 · Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which of the following best describes the manner in which the eldest sister proposed to dispose of the gardener's boy?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 1 · wrong ✗ · **What happens:** follow, describe, propose, dispose · **To what, where:** manner, eldest sister

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 1 of lesson 1506 «Red Fairy Book, The Star Gazer» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/books/1506-pg540-part3/#e1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1506-pg540-part3:e1:1
# text = Which of the following best describes the manner in which the eldest sister proposed to dispose of the gardener's boy?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	6	obj	_	_
2	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	following	follow	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	case	_	_
5	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	6	nmod	_	_
6	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
10	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	8	nmod	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	eldest	eld	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	13	amod	_	_
13	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
14	proposed	propose	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	13	acl	_	_
15	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
16	dispose	dispose	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	xcomp	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	gardener	gardener	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	's	's	PART	POS	_	19	case	_	_
21	boy	boy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **follow** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **describe** | present |  | the manner |  |  |  | of the best | tree rules |
| 3 | **propose** | participle |  | the eldest sister *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **dispose** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | of the gardener's boy | vn addict-96 «NP V NP PP.Theme»: agent=Agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By administering a philtre at the close of the banquet

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1506-pg540-part3:e1:o1:1
# text = By administering a philtre at the close of the banquet
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	administering	administer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	philtre	philtre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	close	close	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	banquet	banquet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **administer** | gerund |  | a philtre |  | the close of the banquet |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent philtre=Theme |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By arranging a quiet duel after the evening feast

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1506-pg540-part3:e1:o2:1
# text = By arranging a quiet duel after the evening feast
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	arranging	arrange	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	quiet	quiet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	duel	duel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	after	after	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	evening	evening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	feast	feast	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **arrange** | gerund |  | a quiet duel |  |  | after the evening feast |  | vn build-26.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent duel=Product |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By administering a sleeping philtre at the close of the great banquet hall festivities

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1506-pg540-part3:e1:o3:1
# text = By administering a sleeping philtre at the close of the great banquet hall festivities
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	administering	administer	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	sleeping	sleeping	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	philtre	philtre	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	close	close	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
9	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
11	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
12	banquet	banquet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	hall	hall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	compound	_	_
14	festivities	festivity	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **administer** | gerund |  | a sleeping philtre |  | the close of the great hall festivities |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent philtre=Theme |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
By sending a gift to the garden

```conllu
# sent_id = question:books:1506-pg540-part3:e1:o4:1
# text = By sending a gift to the garden
1	By	by	SCONJ	IN	_	2	mark	_	_
2	sending	send	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	gift	gift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
5	to	to	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	garden	garden	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **send** | gerund |  | a gift |  | the garden |  |  | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent gift=Theme to garden=Destination |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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